Separable buckle



A. T. VAN ALSTYN.

SEPARABLE BUCKLE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 13,4915.

Patented Nov. 2, 1920.-

M 6mm,

UNITED STATES ALBERT T. VAN' ALSTYN, 0F GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN.

SEPARA'BLE BUCKLE.

Application filed October 13, 1915.

To (all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, ALBERT T. VAN r'iLs'rYN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Grand Rapids, in the county of Kent and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Separable Buckles, of which the following is a specification.

he present invention relates to a separable buckle particularly characterized by the fact that it comprises two co-acting parts automatically assembled by a strap used in connection therewitlnthe said buckle being more especially adapted for suspenders, garters, and in fact any type of limb or body encircling article wherein it is required to adjust the article in size or length to conform to the requirements'of the wearer. e

To this end the objects of the present invention may be generally stated as comprehensive of a buckle of the above mentioned character which is simple in construction, and therefore cheap to manufacture, easy to assemble and thread, and when in use, does not wear upon the material of which the article, to which the buckle is attached, is made.

Specifically speaking, one object is to so associate and secure the strap tensioning lever of the buckle to the strap end that an enormous saving of material is effected when manufacturing the articles in large quantities; and furthermore, by reason of the manner in which said strap end and strap tensioning lever are connected, said strap end being disposed within the tension bar of the tensioning lever, a saving ofspace is accomplished due to the fact that this construction results in only two thlcknesses of strap, whereas in the case of the usual buckle three thicknesses of strap are necessitated by reason of the fact that the attaching end of the strap is looped back on itself and either sewed or riveted to the buckle.

Another object, of one principal embodiment of my invention, resides in the fact that the strap end is attached to the strap tensioning lever while the latter is entirely free of the buckle frame, and the two separate parts of the buckle, namely the frame and tensioning lever, are so constructed and formed that the buckle may then be assembled with exceptional ease by hand, it being only necessary to merely thread the free Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 2, 1920.

Serial No. 55,598.

end of the strap through the frame aperture, thus forming what may be most appropriately termed a separably mountable twopart interlocking buckle.

A further object consists in the manner of buckling the strap which is accomplished by providing the strap tensioning lever with a hollow tensioning bar having a smooth rounded face and which is movable to dis place a holding length of the full width of the strap throughthe frame without recourse to prongs or tongues, which must of necessity mutilate the strap, and yet the holding power of the buckle is positive.

A still further object resides in so associating the strap tensioning lever and the frame of the buckle that, when it is desired to adjust the strap, the active face of the tensioning lever is moved entirely out of and below the normal plane ofthe strap and thus permits the latter to slide freely without resistance between the frame and said face.

Yet another object rests in constructing the buckle in such a manner that, when it is in use, no metal surface whatsoever is in contact with the skin, thereby producing a buckle of rustless construction.

Still another object consists in arranging the strap tensioning lever relative to the frame and strap so that the tendency, when in use, is to maintain the tensioning lever in a positively locked or buckled position and thereby hold the strap against slipping.

One other object lies in producing a buckle of such construction. that it is substantially flat and adds little to the thickness of the actual dimensions of the overlying straps with which the buckle is used and thus reduces, to a minimum, the wear on any garments working over the top of the buckle.

With the above, and other objects in view, I will now proceed to describe a preferred form, and various modifications, of this invention which I have found in practice to give good results, and which I have accordingly illustrated in the accompanying drawinggwvherein: i V

Figure 1 is a top plan view showing the two-part separable buckle, of the preferred form, assembled.

Fig; 2 is a view, in perspective, of the strap tensioning lever used in connection with the buckle shown in Fig. 1, properly swaged to the strap end.

Fig. 3 is a detail view, in plan, of one end of the buckle frame showing the manner of forming the fulcrum pockets.

Fig. 1 is a sectional view on the line a4l of Fig. 3.

Figs. 5 and 6 are sectional views on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1, showing the buckle in the unbuckled and buckled positions, respectively.

Fig. 7 is a plan view of a modified construction.

Fig. 8 is a sectional view on the line 8-8 of Fig. 7, showing the buckle 1n the unbuckled position.

Fig. 9 is an end elevation of the buckle shown in Figs. 7 and 8, but showing the same in the buckled position.

Fig. 10 is a view, in perspective, of the tensioning lever of another modified form.

Fig. 11' is an end elevation of a buckle including the tensioning lever shown 'in Fig. 10. r I

Fig.12 is a sectional view on the line 12-12 of Fig. 1O. v V M f Fig. l3'is a-planview of one side of another modified" form of tensioning lever showing the manner of securing the strap end thereto. I

Fig. 14L is a plan view of the reverse side of the tensioningflever shown'in Fig. 13; and l FigZ15-is' a sectional view on the line 15 15 of Fig.14,

,With particular reference to Figs. 1 tot) inclusive, wherein the preferred form of my invention is illustrated; the buckle is of separable construction and comprises the frame lwhich may be of thin metal slightly bent down on the side edges, as shown at 2, to stiffen'the frame, and provided with the substantially rectangular frame aperture 3, of such width that it easily accommodates the'w-idth of the strap tobe used with the buckle. At each end of the frame aperture 3, and offset from the center line thereof and also directly in alinement with cach-other, are the fulcrum pockets l, which receive the pintles-5 carried at each end of a strap tensioning lever '6, which includes the tensioning bar? substantially at rightangles to the lever portion 8 and which is offset with respectto the pintles 5. The tensioningbar 7 is formed by turning over a portion of the metal of" which the tensioning lever is formed and in so doingone end of a strap 9 is swaged thereinas shown in Figs. '2, 5 and 6, thus requiring only an extremely small amount of materialto secure the strap to the tensioninglever 6, and also forming a closed rounded strap engaging face 10 of smooth contour and substantially the width of the strap. In order to securely retain the strap end one edge of the turned over portion of the tensioning bar carries teeth 11, and since a partof the lever portion 8 is struck out as at 12, and is formed into teeth, the strap is securely engaged throughout substantially its entire width and thus cannot pull away from the tensioning lever. As before stated, the fulcrum pockets 4i are offset and furthermore they are deep enough so that when the buckle is assembled, as shown in Figs. 1, 4c, 5 and 6, the pintles 5 are located below the normal plane of a strap passing between the tensioning bar 7 and the frame 1 and also, due to the offset of the pintles 5 with respect to the tensioning bar 7 the latter, when the buckle is in an opened position, liesin a plane be low the plane of such strap positioned between the frame 1 and tensioning bar. Then when the buckle is in the closed posi tion, the engaging face 10 of the tensioning bar 7 projects a holding length of the entire width of the strap through the aperture 3 of the frame 1, as shown in Fig. 6', and the strap is thereby securely held in an adjusted position. In the'use of the buckle on suspenders, garters and the like, the free end of the strap will, of necessity, be looped back underneath the portion '8 of the lever 6 and thence returned over the top of the sam and passed between the frame and tensioning bar. 7 (see Figs. 5 and 6). thus the lever '6 automatically is maintained in assemble'drelation with respect to the frame by means of the strap and only two thicknesses of strap are necessitated due to the factthat the tensioning bar 7 carries one end ofthe strap.

Furthermore, when the buckle is in the unbuckled position the strap may be easily threaded through the same because of the large spaces left at A and 13 since the ten sioning bar 7 will then be below the nor mal plane of the strap when passed through the buckle.

In other buckles it is necessary, when buckling and unbuckling the same, to utilize a lever located on the top of the strap and which carries teeth, and thus when the buckle isbuckled this lever projects outwardly at an uncomfortable angle for the wearer. Now, the present buckle may be unbuckled by simply tipping the frame 1 in the proper direction, or inserting the fin-' ger between the overlapping straps and tipping the portion 8, of the tensioning lever,

which will then throw the tensioning bar 7 to a position entirely free from that portion of the strap between it and the frame and thestrap will then slide easily therebetween for adjustment.

Referring to Figs. 7, 8 and 9, the buckle therein illustrated is similar to the buckle hereinbefore described in that it is of two-' part construction and operates in the same manner; However, instead of forming the frame las shown in Fig. 1, the frame 11 of this buckle may be bent down into cars of the material of which the strap is made.

Otherwise the operation of the buckle is the same as that described in connection with 1 (o6 inclusive.

A similar manner of attaching the strap end to the tensioning lever is employed in Figs. 10 to 12, wherein. a portion of the tensioning lever 19 isbent at right angles as shown at 20 and carries the pintles 21. Also, formed on the edge of the portion 20 are the teeth or spurs 22 which are pushed through the end of the strap 23 which is then wrapped around the portion 20 and forms the active face of the tensioning lever. In Figs. 13 to 15 inclusive a somewhat more simple construction of tensioning lever is shown, in which the tensioning lever includes the channel formed by the parallel sides 24, one having teeth, and be tween which the end of a strap 25 is swaged, while the lever portion 26 is struck up therefrom.

In any of the foregoing constructions it will be evident that the buckle is purely of separable construction in that it consists of only two parts, namely, the frame and the tensioning lever, and, due to the peculiar arrangement of the strap in connection with. the tensioning lever of each form, the metal parts of each buckle are entirely protected against contact with the skin of the wearer, thus producing a rustless construction.

Furthermore, as emphasized in the prelude to the specific description, the arrangement of the buckle parts and strap, as well as the construction, is such that the buckle is far thinner than the usual buckles and, in fact while the parts in most of the views are exaggerated to a certain degree, the buckle shown in Fig. 11 might be taken as representative of the dimensions of the buckle in actuality.

lVhile, in the foregoingspecification, and .in the drawing, I have illustrated certain specific embodiments of my invention which I have found by the use of actual working models to be practical and give good'results, I do not wish to limit myself to such constructions but may resort to various modifications which fall within the scope of my invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A separably mountable two-part interlocking buckle, including an apertured tensioning bar bent upon itself to grip one end of a strap, the portion gripping the strap forming a rounded edge adapted to engage said strap when passed between the lever and frame, and the lever moved to operative position.

2. A separably mountable two-part inter} locking buckle, including an apertured frame provided with oppositely alined ful crum pockets extending below said frame, astrap tensioning lever having pintles fulcruined in said pockets and comprising a tensioning bar bent upon itself to grip one end. ,ofa strap, the portion [gripping the strapforming a rounded edge adapted to engage said strap when passed between the lever and frame, and the lever moved to operative position, said pocketsbeing of a width greater than the thickness of the pintles whereby the pintles will have a sliding movement laterally of said pockets when the lever is in closed position.

8. A separably mountable two-part interlocking buckle, comprising a frame having a strap receiving aperture and oppositely alined fulcrum pockets, the upper face of the depressed portion of said pockets extending below the lower face of said frame, a lever having pintles fulcrumed in said pockets and comprising a strap tensioning bar offset from said pintles, whereby when the lever is in open position a strap may have free sliding movement between the end of the lever and the lower face of the frame, and when in closed position, said bar will crimp the strap in said aperture, said strap tensioning bar having a groove for gripping the end of a strap whereby the strap may pass around the lever and back through the aperture of the frame and overlie said lever to normally hold it in locked position when the buckle is in use.

4t. A separable and instantly mountable two-part buckle comprising an apertured frame having a strap receiving aperture and oppositely alined fulcrum pockets, a

lever having pintles fulcrumed in said pockets and comprising a tensioning bar bent upon itself to grip the end of a strap and form an edge for crimping the strap in the aperture of the frame when passed therethrough, whereby the strap may pass around the lever and the latter lie between two thicknesses of the strap and be normally held in locked position when the buckle is in use. p

A separable buckle including an apertured frame provided with oppositely alined fulcrum pockets offset with respect to the longitudinal center of the frame, a strap, a strap tensioning lever fulcrumed in said pockets and comprisinga tensioning bar bent upon itself to engage the end of the strap and form a rounded edge adapted to engage said strap when passed between the lever and frame, said bar being substantially the same width as the strap and having the rounded edge spaced away from the side edges of the wall surrounding the frame aperture a sufficient distance to permit the strap to pass freely between the tension bar and frame when said lever is in open position. V I

6.'ln a separable easily mountable two part buckle comprising an apertured frame having a pair of oppositely alined fulcrum pockets, a strap tensioning lever having pintles fulcrumed in said pockets, and a strap crimping bar, said pockets being laterally offset with relation to the longitudinal center of the frame aperture and depressed a' substantial distance below the lower face of the frame, whereby the width of said aperture may be comparatively small but permit the crimping edge of said bar to clear the adjacent edge of the aperture wall as the lever is swung, and the strap may be freely slid'between the end of the lever andthe frame when the lever is in open position and snugly crimped and held in the aperture when the lever is in closed position.

In testimony whereof I hereunto Set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

MARGUERITE H. NEwooMB, BENJAMIN R. NEWCOMB. 

